'We're going to have a very good year': Michele Mella takes the reins at Whatley Manor

I've inherited a brilliant operation from Sue, she's one of the greatest hoteliers of our generation and a very hard act to follow. The big thing is continuity – we don't want to rock the boat and change anything too dramatically.

Tell me about your career in hospitality

I've been working in the industry since the mid-1980s. I worked in Munich and Venice before coming to London in 1989 and I've been in the UK since. I spent almost a decade working at Claridge's and the Dorchester in Mayfair and then I met my now wife. She comes from the Cotswolds, so I ended up following her wishes to return here. That's when I fell in love with English country house hotels, as up until then I had only worked in luxury, five-star, city properties.

I spent more than 12 years as general manager of Barnsley House in Cirencester, prior to which I was with the Calcot Collection. After leaving Barnsley House in 2022 I worked with an American company called Celebrated Experiences and then received the call from Sue.

What is it about working in country house hotels that you particularly enjoy?

Country house hotels are challenging to run, they're smaller properties and it's all hands on deck, but I find they are a lot more rewarding in terms of team building, guest engagement and product development. You need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves as a general manager, you will be checking people in or helping in F&B when needed. But I really like that, it keeps you close to the floor and means you're able to understand the needs of your team.

Five-star city hotels are very structured, whereas in country house hotels you need to be very creative in the way you interpret hospitality and deliver the product. We have this amazing ability to watch the trends develop and create unique offerings. I have a constant dialogue with the owner and can share exactly what's happening, which means strategically we can react and put things in place. But primarily, it's the day-to-day that makes me happy, I'm a hospitality person and seeing people happy makes me happy.

Sue Williams put sustainability at the heart of all Whatley Manor's operations. How will you build on her work?

I am so lucky that Sue Williams' services have been retained and she is now our sustainability advisor, working one day a week alongside myself and the team. Her knowledge and understanding of the subject are helping me massively in navigating a subject that is still often misunderstood.

Sustainability is at the heart of the business. It began because the owner of the property wanted us to reduce its negative impact on the environment and that remains our number one goal. Our commitment is aimed ultimately at decarbonising our operation and we are pleased to share that we are aiming to become climate-positive imminently, by purchasing gold standard, high-integrity credits to offset our remaining carbon.

Our vision is to be environmentally responsible at every level, which is something that can only be achieved if all stakeholders play a part, and so our next big focus has to be on the supply chain. While the hotel is about to become carbon neutral through offsetting, the reality is that 83% of what carbon is left is in the supply chain. I will be focused on that, with the help of Sue, and we'll be working with all our suppliers.

That's an enormously challenging area to tackle. How are you approaching it?

We're not naïve, it's very challenging but it's all about taking little steps. We're organising workshops a couple of times a year to get suppliers in and openly discuss what we've done, which we hope will generate ideas and help people understand that we're all facing the same challenges.

We're not saying "if you're not delivering on sustainability credentials we won't work with you". Although if I have two suppliers delivering the same product or service, we will absolutely go with the one who has stronger sustainability credentials. We want to work with our suppliers and share knowledge with them. We know legislation is coming and there will be more demands on businesses to deliver on sustainability goals, so others might as well engage.

What else is on your agenda for 2024?

We're all facing many challenges. The cost of running a business is challenging, to say the least, and the political landscape is not the best. There are many uncertainties and rising fuel costs and further wage increases planned for April are making budgeting and setting prices tricky.

We've been talking about the perfect storm for the past couple of years and I think we're in a storm that might continue for a few more years. But I've always been a great believer that where there are storms, there's energy and some positives come out of that.

I think 2024 will be a pretty good year for business in general and certainly for us at Whatley. I feel that we're in good stead. From 26 February we'll be running an F&B offering seven days a week [the hotel had closed its F&B outlets on Mondays and Tuesdays during 2022] and that's a big opportunity for us. Grey's restaurant will be open seven days a week and we're also launching a new all-day dining experience in the lounges from midday until 4pm from Monday to Saturday, which includes full afternoon tea as well as a substantial, relaxed menu. Then we'll continue to have the [Michelin-starred] Dining Room open four nights a week as our premium offering.

What has allowed you to take the decision to extend hours now?

With the owner's blessing, Sue and I went on a recruitment drive last autumn, which was brilliant and meant that by the time I started we had a team in place that could allow us to open over seven days. We decided not to open the tap immediately as we wanted to give Ricki [Weston, executive chef] and Clare [Ratcliffe, F&B manager] time to really embed the training and bring everyone up to speed.

I'm absolutely convinced that we have a really high-quality food offering. I think Ricki Weston is without doubt one of the chefs to watch in 2024 and beyond. He has a real knack for understanding flavour and menu creation. We already have one Michelin star and one green star, and I think this year and going forward that will be one of our projects and ambitions.

Have you managed to recruit successfully across the business?

The staffing situation now is great and we also had an incredible response from school open days so we have two or three students joining us as apprentices in June or July next year as they finish their GCSEs.

We've gone out with the view that if people have the right attitude and their hearts are in the right place all the technical skills can be taught, we have lots of highly-skilled people in the business who can do that.

We are also aiming to increase our training and development opportunities for the team. For example, six of our managers have already signed up for Level 3 Leadership and Management training opportunities. We are also partnering with a new service provider who will help us deliver custom-made learning opportunities for junior managers and supervisory team members, aimed at developing their understanding of luxury brands, service and delivery.

What are your ambitions for Aquarius Spa in 2024?

Our new spa manager Anette Hall has been with us seven months now and she has built a team from scratch. We've got a full complement of therapists now and we're moving almost entirely into the wellbeing area.

We've been working hard to try and create an oasis for our guests to relax in and enjoy pampering. In the past, spas have had a focus on beauty but we're phasing that out entirely now. We're thinking of mind, body and soul, which is what we all need nowadays.

As well as massages we're introducing yoga, meditation as well as other activities and classes. It's an area we want to develop more in the weeks and months to come.

It sounds like you're feeling optimistic about 2024

I am optimistic. You run numbers when you're a general manager and actually we're doing the same level of business as we were last year, even though we know the market has been soft in many areas. Seeing the same level of business coming in and knowing we're going to be fully open seven days a week, with a full team of spa therapists, I'm very confident we're going to have a very good year.

Do you think occupancy and rates will hold their trajectory into 2024?

All businesses have adjusted their models.

In 2019 we were all used to doing 80-90% occupancy and the name of the game was to stack them. Now we've all adjusted our business models to support lower occupancy. We know that we can create demand to reach certain targets and maintain the average room rates, that's key because you don't want to start getting jittery and drop the rates. Of course you can be creative with packages to drive business to the midweek, but the reality is costs are still rising.

The rise of the living wage will have an impact on profitability. We will inevitably have to adjust our rates to absorb some of that cost. Saying that, I am confident that a more stable team, improved productivity and untapped potential in the spa will deliver improved sales to support the increased cost base.

Are you seeing changes in booking patterns and is the cost of living crisis having an impact?

The trend is now for people to plan ahead a bit more. People are looking at luxury travel as something very aspirational. We know there are people who can afford to buy the best of the best and go wherever they want and there are wealthy people who, even if prices go up, still want the experience. They might spend less on wine or go less frequently but they'll still plan those trips. Looking at February, we are ahead of last year, March is also ahead of last year so the two or three month lead time for the domestic market is something we're seeing more of, which is what we want.

How important is the international market to Whatley?

The domestic market makes up 95% of our bookings and our international audience is 5% maximum. I would like to see that grow and, selfishly, having worked in America, I would love to see that from the American market, which remains buoyant.

Michele Mella's CV

Oct 2023-present General manager, Whatley Manor, Malmesbury

2022 – 2023 Chief partnership officer/director of European operations, Celebrated Experiences, US

2009 – 2022 General manager and director, Barnsley House, Cirencester

1998-2009 Various managerial roles, Calcot Manor, Tetbury

1995-1998 Room services division, the Dorchester, London

1989-1995 Room services division Claridge's, London

About Whatley Manor

Rooms 23

F&B Grey's restaurant, the Dining Room

General manager Michele Mella

Executive chef Ricki Weston

Leisure Aquarius spa, private cinema, 12 acres of gardens